John of Austria

Don John of Austria (24 February 1547-1 October 1578) was a Habsburg army and naval commander. He crushed the 1569 Morisco Revolt and gained fame for his victory in the 1571 Battle of Lepanto against the Ottoman Empire. He became the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands in 1577 but died of typhus shortly after the Namur Campaign.

Biography
Don John of Austria was a bastard son of the Habsburg emperor, Charles V. Reckless and dashing, John was naturally inimical to his cautious, reclusive half-brother, King Philip II of Spain. When John was 21, Philip appointed him commander of the Mediterranean galley fleet, but surrounded him with advisers who were expected to keep him under control and report back to the king. In 1569, Moriscos - Moors forcibly converted to Christianity - rose in revolt in Granada. John led an army to suppress the rebellion, a mission accomplished in a campaign marked by savage combat and massacre.

A Natural Leader
Jpohn proved an excellent choice as leader of the Holy League fleet sent to oppose the Ottomans in 1571, his charisma, innate aggression, and idealistic enthusiasm pulling the quarrelsome Christian allies together. Victory at Lepanto made John one of Europe's most famed commanders. The aftermath was disappointing. He captured Tunis from the Ottomans in 1573, but it was soon lost again. In 1576, he was appointed to command Spanish forces in the Netherlands, a post he could only take up by crossing France in disguise. Arriving at a low point in Spain's fortunes, he first made peace with the Dutch rebels, before resuming the war on his own initiative with the seizure of Namur in 1577.